healing
A land acknowledgement provides recognition of and context for the original stewards and residents of the land in question. A land acknowledgement is also a means of expressing gratitude for the ongoing Indigenous stewardship of these lands. The names of tribes, lands, and natural features are given in the relevant tribal language or languages, if that information is available. The English or Spanish language settler names are also included in parentheses.
It is appropriate to read a land acknowledgement before a public event such as a ceremony, committee meeting, or class meeting.
It’s also appropriate to include land acknowledgement in a syllabus.
Our hope is that this land acknowledgement will help all of Northland Pioneer College (NPC) to better understand the contexts and histories of the places we work, so that we can better support the students we serve.
honesty
Northland Pioneer College’s locations are situated on the land of the Diné (Navajo), Hopituh Shinumu (Hopi), N'dee-Nnēē (Western Apache), Ashiwi (Zuni), Dził Łigai Si'án N'dee (White Mountain Apache), and other tribes indigenous to this area. All of NPC’s service area, like all of the United States, is Native land.
NPC's service area encompasses spaces that are sacred to the original stewards and relatives of this land, air, water, and all living things. We are all connected in this circle. This was true long before the flags of Spain, Mexico, or the United States flew over this land and will remain so in perpetuity. We are grateful to Indigenous people of the past and present for their continued stewardship of the land where we live, work, and teach. As the reference to pioneer settlers in our name suggests, these legacies are still with us.
The legacy of federal boarding schools, sometimes called “Indian schools”, is still with us. Beginning in the late 1700s, boarding schools, which were either federally-run or church-run with federal funds, were created to carry out the federal government’s plan of cultural genocide. Forcibly recruiting children, including very young children, federal boarding schools used psychological and physical violence to isolate children from their cultures, languages, and spiritualities. Several centuries of cultural violence, and the setting of educational institutes as the source of much of this violence, have caused lasting multi-generational trauma associated with educational institutes. The legacy of this colonial violence manifests in many ways, including in the uneven educational outcomes for Native students that persist to this day.
All of our locations exist on land that is ancestral for one or more Native tribes. This section contains information about each NPC location in the context of ancestral lands and surrounding natural features that are near the location.
Beginning with our northernmost location:
Northland Pioneer College, part of the Navajo County Community College District, the college has collaborated with and served Native American communities since its founding in 1972.
Because we are an educational institution, a land acknowledgement must also acknowledge the role that educational institutes have played in colonization. The history of colonial educational institutions in Indian Country is lengthy and fraught. Beginning in the 16th century, colonial missions sought to eliminate Indigenous languages, and spiritual traditions, and cultural practices through a variety of, often-violent, practices, which included educational strategies. When this land was ceded by Mexico ceded this land to the United States in 1848, the US Federal Government extended its plan of forced assimilation, extending the violent strategies of cultural and spiritual oppression that had been in place in other US territories since the 1700s. As the reference to pioneer settlers in our name suggests, these legacies are still with us.
The legacy of federal boarding schools, sometimes called “Indian schools”, is still with us. Beginning in the late 1700s, boarding schools, which were either federally-run or church-run with federal funds, were created to carry out the federal government’s plan of cultural genocide. Forcibly recruiting children, including very young children, federal boarding schools used psychological and physical violence to isolate children from their cultures, languages, and spiritualties. Several centuries of cultural violence, and the setting of educational institutes as the source of much of this violence, have caused lasting multi-generational trauma associated with educational institutes. The legacy of this colonial violence manifests in many ways, including in the uneven educational outcomes for Native students that persist to this day.
friendship
Northland Pioneer College is committed to creating a culturally responsive and safe learning environment for Indigenous students. We understand that history shapes our present conditions, and we strive to keep these contexts in mind as we support lifelong learning for all of the communities we serve.
In honoring the history, present, and future of these lands, we must recognize the violence wrought by settler colonialism and the lasting impacts of this violence, which continues to manifest as structural inequities. The settlers who colonized these lands were not invited. The entitlement they felt to these lands, and their ensuing violence, was in no way justified. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group recognizes that all people on Turtle Island (North America) exist within the legacies and contexts brought about by these settler intrusions. We honor the agency of Native people, and Native peoples’ resistance to assimilation and colonization, resistance which was immediate and is ongoing.
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